Friday, 31 July 2009

Because it's Friday and because everyone loves a sale! Head on over to Storeyshop where my last few little bags have been reduced. They are great as beauty bags and would make nice gifts too. I am planning to concentrate on cards and monkeys for now so selling off my last few little bags. I might open a separate shop for this kind of thing in the future but they may be unavailable for a while once they are sold...

Thursday, 30 July 2009

We've been on holiday to Scotland. Well, the campsite was actually only just over an hour away from our house but quite a bit further from our friend's homes. We are holidaying in stages as Dave and I both have too much work on to take weeks off. All good though and it's very nice to get away from work for a few days at a time. Last weekend was spent in Dumfries and Galloway and then we are planning to meet our friends again on the next leg of their trip somewhere further north tomorrow.

The thing is, everyone on the trip is a keen mountain biker. Now, I have a bike but, as anyone who knows me will be aware, I'm not a natural sportswoman. I'm a real wimp when it comes to hills and steep slopes at the best of times let alone on two wheels. I am proud to say I did a 'blue run' though at the 7Stanes Kirroughtree Trails. The routes go from green ones through blue and red and finally to stupidly scary black ones. I have to say I enjoyed (most of) it and would like to go back and do more. I didn't think I would be saying that at the start of the day!

Here's a few pics of our scenic break by the lake on our bike trail. It was a lovely sunny day too which we haven't had many of since. Sunday rained half the day but we survived by taking a very long time eating breakfast in the cafe, swimming in the campsite pool and then moving on to the pub.

When the weather cheared up enough to get outside, we went for a walk along the Galloway coast where we walked past the weirdest house. There were loads of strange sculptures all along the path near the house and little things added to the rocks and trees. Someone had gone to great lengths to make little peep holes into the rocks which had slightly disturbing monsters positioned inside. It was all kind of fun but kind of creepy (I hope I haven't given the little girl nightmares who saw me looking into the eye holes and then came and did the same!) Then I noticed the teeth. Human adult teeth had been glued to this rock! I think I have watched too many CSIs and episodes of Waking The Dead and that just made me think about where the teeth had come from. Ewww.

Well, onto more pleasant things. Storeyshop has been nicely busy lately with lots of wedding and new baby card orders and a few monkeys. I am making a special edition London Underground monkey at the moment for someone and also some more nice brightly coloured ones to add to the shop soon. Here are a few recent card commissions...

I'm also busy trying to sort out our spare room and tidy the house up a bit ready for visitors. Woo hoo! My friend is coming up next week and then another friend is coming up the week after followed by another of mine and Dave's friends the week after that. We thought we'd splash out and treat them and future guests to a bed too. Well, a sofa bed anyway. Still better than an elderly airbed. It arrived today and looks quite at home. Now we just need to paint skirting boards, reseal the bath, put long awaited pictures on the walls, sort out the big pile of stuff to go on eBay, paint more walls, sand more floors........ Or maybe I will just concentrate on getting nice food in and planning fun things to do with our tourists. Cream teas, junk shops, a walk to The Wall and cake-making are all on the agenda for next week!

Friday, 17 July 2009

...are in! The first ever batch of limited edition laser cut Storeyshop cards are all nicely cut and will be available to buy soon. They have come out really well and I am excited about taking more nice photos of them (when the weather cheers up a bit and there's some sunlight!) and getting them in to the shop. Available in a range of colours, the new range of pre-cut cards are also great because they are in stock, ready to send straight away and are more purse-friendly. They will also be great for galleries and boutiques to stock. Here are the first few...

This week has sped by. I have been very busy catching up with all my orders and have just about caught up. It's nice to be back up north and back to business as usual with Storeyshop. More blog posts and new items in the shop next week...

Friday, 10 July 2009

I'm having a little week off (well, kind of off but I'm still doing card orders) at my parents' in Sussex. Will blog more about that when I get home but I thought I would point you in the right dircetion of another Storeyshoip Giveaway. The prize is a personalised hand-cut card of your choice. Head to the Beauty4Moms post and leave a comment to enter. Not many people have left comments yet so you have a good chance of winning! There are lots of other giveaways all the time on there too so add it to your favourites or follow Ashley on Twitter.

Right, I have another bridal shop appointment so I have to run. I'm a bit wedding dress-ed out to be honest but this is the last one and my dream dress might be there...

Hi, I'm Helen and I live in South Yorkshire with my husband and little boy. I'm a graphic designer and paper engineer and I love it! As well as spending lots of time making Storeyshop personalised paper goodies, I can also be commissioned for papercutting work and model-making jobs, or booked for freelance magazine design and other graphic design work. I love comments so please say hello and let me know about your blogs, shops, loves or projects!